Tag: chinese

The Shanghai composite slipped 0.82 percent to close at about 2,576.65 and the Shenzhen composite was lower by 0.813 percent to finish the day at around 1,312.55. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined by more than 1 percent in its final hour of trade. Ahead of that speech, one economist told CNBC’s “Street Signs” cautioned investors not to expect a “dramatic announcement or surprise by the Chinese government.” “First of all, that’s the style of the Chinese government,” said Chi Lo, senior e

The mainland Chinese markets saw losses on Tuesday. The Shanghai composite slipped 0.82 percent to close at about 2,576.65 and the Shenzhen composite was lower by 0.813 percent to finish the day at around 1,312.55.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined by more than 1 percent in its final hour of trade.

In an address to commemorate the 40th anniversary of China’s economic reforms on Tuesday, Xi called for his country to “stay the course” on its current path of reform and emphasized that “no one is in a position to dictate to the Chinese people what should or should not be done.”

Xi’s remarks were being closely watched as investors sought clues on whether the Chinese leader’s idea of progress aligned with the West’s increasingly vocal demands for less state control, which could have implications on whether the U.S. reaches a trade deal with China by the end of its 90-day tariff ceasefire.

Ahead of that speech, one economist told CNBC’s “Street Signs” cautioned investors not to expect a “dramatic announcement or surprise by the Chinese government.”

“First of all, that’s the style of the Chinese government,” said Chi Lo, senior economist of Greater China at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

Chi also added that Beijing “really wants stability on all fronts to go ahead” instead of causing any potential excitement or volatility which could “hurt sentiment towards China.”

T-Mobile US and Sprint have won backing for their $26 billion merger from two national security reviews on Monday, clearing key hurdles in their tie-up bid. While T-Mobile and Sprint do not use Huawei equipment, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank use some Huawei gear in overseas markets. “We are pleased to achieve both of these important milestones in the journey to build the New T-Mobile,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement. “These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies hav

T-Mobile US and Sprint have won backing for their $26 billion merger from two national security reviews on Monday, clearing key hurdles in their tie-up bid.

The deal got a nod from the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) in the United States as well as the Justice Department, Department of Homeland Security, and Defense Department — collectively referred to as Team Telecom, the companies said.

The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint had been expected to get an all clear from CFIUS after sources told Reuters on Friday that the firms’ respective foreign owners, Deutsche Telekom and Japan’s SoftBank, had offered to stop using Huawei Technologies equipment.

People familiar with the deal said last week that U.S. officials had pressured Deutsche Telekom to stop using Huawei gear, and the companies believed they had to comply to win approval from CFIUS, headed by the Treasury Department.

Many governments around the world have shut out the Chinese firm amid worries its gear could facilitate Chinese spying. While T-Mobile and Sprint do not use Huawei equipment, Deutsche Telekom and SoftBank use some Huawei gear in overseas markets.

T-Mobile and Sprint, the third- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers, said on Monday that Team Telecom, in a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), indicated it had no objections to the merger after reviewing “potential national security, law enforcement, and public safety issues.”

“We are pleased to achieve both of these important milestones in the journey to build the New T-Mobile,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said in a statement. The company has previously said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2019.

“These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies have with the U.S. government will continue with the New T-Mobile. We look forward to continuing our discussions with the remaining regulatory agencies reviewing our transaction.”

The U.S. wireless carriers still need to win antitrust approval from the Justice Department and the FCC.

The U.S. government and its allies have stepped up pressure on Huawei amid concerns the company is effectively controlled by the Chinese state and its network equipment may contain “back doors” that enable cyber espionage, something Huawei denies.

Several telecom operators in Europe and Australia have said they will exclude the Chinese firm from their fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks.

The pressure on Huawei has heightened tensions between the United States and China over trade. Earlier this month, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer and daughter of its billionaire founder, was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States, which has asked for her extradition.

U.S. prosecutors have accused her of misleading multinational banks about Huawei’s control of a company operating in Iran. China has asked for her release.

Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said it has secured more than 25 commercial contracts for 5G, slightly above the 22 the Chinese technology giant had announced in November. Huawei has shipped more than 10,000 base stations for the fifth generation of mobile communications, its rotating chairman Ken Hu told reporters at the company’s campus in Dongguan in southern China. The company did not give any details on customers. She is awaiting possible extradition to the United States in a case that has r

Huawei Technologies on Tuesday said it has secured more than 25 commercial contracts for 5G, slightly above the 22 the Chinese technology giant had announced in November.

Huawei has shipped more than 10,000 base stations for the fifth generation of mobile communications, its rotating chairman Ken Hu told reporters at the company’s campus in Dongguan in southern China.

The company did not give any details on customers.

The press conference, which comes a couple of weeks after Huawei’s chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou – also the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei – was arrested in Canada at the request of the United States.

She is awaiting possible extradition to the United States in a case that has roiled global markets.

This has added to the woes of the Chinese firm, which has already been virtually locked out of the U.S. market and has been prohibited by Australia and New Zealand from building 5G networks on concerns its gear could facilitate Chinese spying.

The company has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it, a point it reiterated at the press briefing on Tuesday.

Stocks in Asia were mostly higher on Monday following a report suggesting further turmoil for the markets in 2019. The mainland Chinese markets were mixed by the end of their trading day after the country reported lower than expected economic datalast Friday. The Shanghai composite rose 0.16 percent to close at around 2,597.97 while the Shenzhen composite declined by 0.309 percent to end the trading day at about 1,323.31. One investor told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that the bargain hunting f

Stocks in Asia were mostly higher on Monday following a report suggesting further turmoil for the markets in 2019.

Investors were setting their sights on key policy meetings in the coming week — ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s upcoming interest rate meeting and as China on Tuesday marks the 40th anniversary of the country’s reforms under former leader Deng Xiaoping.

President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver a major speech on Monday. It comes as Beijing’s trade war with Washington spurs government advisors and think tanks to urge for urgent reforms in Asia’s largest economy.

The mainland Chinese markets were mixed by the end of their trading day after the country reported lower than expected economic datalast Friday. The Shanghai composite rose 0.16 percent to close at around 2,597.97 while the Shenzhen composite declined by 0.309 percent to end the trading day at about 1,323.31.

One investor told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday that the bargain hunting for Chinese shares has already started.

“Over the next few months, if there were to be any more weakness in the Chinese market, we think that there will be more investors coming in to buy,” said Khiem Do, head of Greater China investments at Barings. “The Chinese markets are actually quite cheap.”

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was slightly higher in its final hour of trade.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.62 percent to close at 21,506.88 while the Topix index saw gains of 0.13 percent to finish the trading day at 1,594.20. Shares of conglomerate Softbank recovered from earlier losses during the session to gain 0.52 percent ahead of the anticipated public listing of its mobile unit on Dec. 19.

South Korea’s Kospi closed fractionally higher at 2,071.09.

Australia’s ASX 200 saw gains of 1 percent to close at 5,658.3, with almost all sectors in positive territory.

“The ‘Santa Rally’ which had been hoped for has proven to be frustratingly elusive; and now markets are quite happy, if not desperate, for at least a dovish line to be thrown by the FOMC (and other global central banks),” said Mizuho Bank in a note on Monday, in reference to the U.S. central bank’s upcoming Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Dec. 18 and 19.

U.S. government debt prices rose on Friday as traders digested fresh economic data out of China and looked ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell steeply to 2.875 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped to 3.136 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. Investors turned their attention to worse-than-expected Chinese data. News of the disappointing figures comes as China and the U.S. try to negotiate a trade d

U.S. government debt prices rose on Friday as traders digested fresh economic data out of China and looked ahead to next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell steeply to 2.875 percent, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond dropped to 3.136 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

Investors turned their attention to worse-than-expected Chinese data. The country’s industrial output in November grew 5.4 percent from the previous year, less than the 5.9 percent estimated by Reuters; retail sales, meanwhile, rose 8.1 percent last month, falling short of an expected 8.8 percent.

News of the disappointing figures comes as China and the U.S. try to negotiate a trade deal within a 90-day tariffs truce. Positive headlines around trade relations between the two had buoyed market sentiment earlier this week.

President Donald Trump said discussions with Beijing had been “very productive” and that some “important announcements” were forthcoming, while a Wall Street Journal report said China was preparing to widen foreign access to its economy.

China to suspend tariffs on US automobiles and auto parts 3 Hours Ago | 03:49China has said it will temporarily halt its additional 25 percent tariff on vehicles made in the United States. The Chinese finance ministry said on its website that China will suspend 25 percent tariffs on 144 vehicles and auto parts originating from the U.S. and 5 percent tariffs on an additional 67 auto items. The U.S. has slapped a 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles built in China and 10 percent on most auto par

China has said it will temporarily halt its additional 25 percent tariff on vehicles made in the United States.

The relief will last for three months staring from January 1, as part of an agreed truce between Beijing and Washington.

The Chinese finance ministry said on its website that China will suspend 25 percent tariffs on 144 vehicles and auto parts originating from the U.S. and 5 percent tariffs on an additional 67 auto items.

U.S. President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping agreed to lessen the impact of trade tariffs for the first 90 days of 2019, following a dinner in Argentina on December 1.

The U.S. has slapped a 25 percent tariff on finished vehicles built in China and 10 percent on most auto parts. China’s 40 percent tariff on U.S. car imports will now reduce to 15 percent for 90 days.

That brings the auto tariffs in China back down to the same level as before the point that the two countries began imposing tit-for-tat levies.

Tariffs help the big three?

Ina note released Thursday, auto analysts at the Swiss bank UBS said trade risks continue to linger and that under their worst scenario, U.S. sales could slump by as much as 12 percent.

But UBS highlighted Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler as potential winners should tariffs prohibit imports, as all three have capacity to boost domestic production.

Meanwhile, auto sales in China fell 14 percent in November over the same month in 2017, the Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday.

That slowdown, while part blamed on the trade war, is also reflective of Chinese domestic demand losing steam.

And Anna-Marie Baisden, head of autos research at Fitch Solutions told CNBC on Friday that getting a tariff deal in place may not spark fresh demand.

“Lowering tariffs might not actually make a big difference because the Chinese market is slowing anyway so even domestic brands are suffering,” she said via email.

European auto stocks hit hard

Auto stocks in Europe were among the leading losers on Friday following a steep drop in the number of new car registrations.

European car sales dropped 8.1 percent in November, falling for the third straight month after the introduction of a new emissions-testing regime in September.

The Stoxx 600 Autos sector dipped 2.2 percent following the data but has since pared losses. At 6:02 a.m. Eastern Time, the index of major European auto and auto-supplier stocks was lower by 1.4 percent.

“Whatever your views are on Macau, the U.S. operators trade at a premium to the Chinese operators. While that has always been the case, I think in light of the trade tensions, that doesn’t make a lot of sense right now,” he said. “At the very least, the U.S. operation should trade at a discount.”

Shares of both companies fell to their lows of the day on Chanos’ comments, aired on CNBC. Las Vegas Sands closed 0.6 percent lower, and Wynn declined 1.2 percent.

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, who worked with North Korea, is missing in China, a Canadian official said, days after Chinese authorities detained a former Canadian diplomat amid an escalating diplomatic row. State media in China has reported Kovrig is being investigated “on suspicion of engaging in activities that harm China’s state security.” Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland earlier told reporters that a second Canadian citizen could be in trouble in China. The group says on i

Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, who worked with North Korea, is missing in China, a Canadian official said, days after Chinese authorities detained a former Canadian diplomat amid an escalating diplomatic row.

His disappearance follows the detention in Beijing on Monday of former diplomat Michael Kovrig, who works for the International Crisis Group. State media in China has reported Kovrig is being investigated “on suspicion of engaging in activities that harm China’s state security.”

Spavor, meanwhile, is being investigated in China on suspicion of harming China’s national security, a Chinese government news site said on Thursday. The Dandong city state security bureau has been investigating Spavor since Dec. 10, an official news site of the Liaoning province government said. It did not give further details.

China has reacted angrily to Canada’s arrest on Dec. 1 of Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, and Spavor’s disappearance is likely to further escalate the diplomatic row.

Meng’s arrest was made at Washington’s request. She has been accused by U.S. prosecutors of misleading banks about transactions linked to Iran, putting the banks at risk of violating sanctions.

Canada has been unable to contact Spavor since he notified the Canadian government that he was being questioned by Chinese authorities, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guillaume Berube said in statement issued in Canada late on Wednesday.

Canada was working hard to ascertain Spavor’s whereabouts and would continue to raise the issue with the Chinese government, Berube said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland earlier told reporters that a second Canadian citizen could be in trouble in China.

Phone calls, messages and emails to Spavor went unanswered on Thursday.

Friends of Spavor told Reuters he was due to fly out of Dalian on a Korean Air flight to South Korea at 2:05 p.m. (0605 GMT) on Monday but had not arrived.

Spavor, who is based in the northern Chinese city of Dandong, on the border with North Korea, is the head of Paektu Cultural Exchange, a China- and UK-based non-profit social enterprise.

The group says on its website it is “dedicated to facilitating sustainable cooperation, cross-cultural exchanges, activities, trade, and investment” with North Korea.

It also says the organisation maintains an “array of contacts” within North Korea and is “nonpolitical.”

Spavor has acted as a translator and facilitator for former U.S. National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman on trips to North Korea and shared Long Island Iced Teas with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on board one of his private boats after they went jet-skiing in 2013.

More recently he has been trying to facilitate investment in North Korea in anticipation of sanctions being lifted, often hosting both North Korean officials and potential investors at his office in Dadong as well as on trips inside North Korea, Spavor told Reuters in previous interviews.

U.S. stock index futures were higher Wednesday amid renewed optimism around the possibility of a permanent U.S.-China trade deal being struck. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 232 points, indicating a gain of 267.76 points. Optimism around trade lifted shares of Caterpillar and Boeing by more than 1 percent each before the bell. These stocks are seen as bellwethers for global trade because of their exposure to markets abroad. Wall Street had another wild session on Tuesday, with the

U.S. stock index futures were higher Wednesday amid renewed optimism around the possibility of a permanent U.S.-China trade deal being struck.

At around 7:02 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 232 points, indicating a gain of 267.76 points. Futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were also seen relatively upbeat.

Optimism around trade lifted shares of Caterpillar and Boeing by more than 1 percent each before the bell. These stocks are seen as bellwethers for global trade because of their exposure to markets abroad.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said he would intervene in the Justice Department’s case against a top executive at Chinese telecoms giant Huawei if it would help serve national security interests or help U.S.-Sino trade talks. Huawei is the one of the largest tech companies in China. It is also seen as a symbol of pride by the Chinese government.

The moves in premarket trade come after Trump said talks between Washington and Beijing were ongoing and confirmed he would not raise tariffs on Chinese imports until he was sure about a comprehensive trade agreement.

They also come after multiple reports pointed to China cutting tariffs on U.S.-made cars. A U.S. official told Reuters China indicated it will lower the tariffs, but the U.S. would wait on formal documentation and timing.

Wall Street had another wild session on Tuesday, with the Dow swinging more than 500 points before closing slightly lower.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted at “important announcements” regarding his administration’s high-stakes trade talks with China. Trump tweeted last week that China had agreed to slash the tariffs, although the Chinese government did not confirm or deny it at the time. According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited Chinese officials, Chinese President Xi Jinping has told senior members of his government to follow through on his recent agreement with Trump. The U.S. and China have resta

“Very productive conversations going on with China! Watch for some important announcements!” the president tweeted.

Trump’s optimistic tweet came soon after Bloomberg News reported that China’s government would consider slashing tariffs on U.S. car imports to 15 percent from 40 percent. Auto stocks jumped on the news in premarket trading. Overall, stocks pointed to a higher open as markets looked to bounce back from last week’s rout.

Trump tweeted last week that China had agreed to slash the tariffs, although the Chinese government did not confirm or deny it at the time. In July, China cut tariffs on auto imports to 15 percent from 25 percent, but then soon hiked duties on U.S.-made cars to 40 percent as retaliation for the Trump administration’s aggressive trade moves.

Other signs of potential progress emerged Tuesday. According to The Wall Street Journal, which cited Chinese officials, Chinese President Xi Jinping has told senior members of his government to follow through on his recent agreement with Trump. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer are the main U.S. negotiators in calls with Chinese negotiators.

The U.S. and China have restarted trade negotiations after Trump and Xi reached a truce in their nations’ escalating trade war. The two leaders spoke during a working dinner at the G-20 summit in Argentina on Dec. 1.

As part of the truce, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day window to negotiate some significant sticking points between the world’s two largest economies. As part of the interim agreement, Trump said he would hold off on boosting tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent.

Trump’s tweet Tuesday also came during the battle over a Chinese executive who was arrested in Canada, the same day Trump and Xi dined in Argentina, and faces extradition to the United States. Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese telecom giant Huawei, is being held by Canadian authorities in a case related to the company’s alleged sale of equipment containing U.S. components to Iran in violation of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

There are concerns that the Huawei case could upset the delicate but broad trade talks between the U.S. and China, although the renewed talks and Trump’s claims indicate it has yet to disrupt the negotiations.